Father YSR’s legacy, rift with brother Jagan: Tracing Sharmila’s political journey

Her father was one of the towering personalities in Andhra politics, her brother a sitting Chief Minister. But despite the family legacy, YS Sharmila’s political journey has been a lonely one. Her estrangement from her brother Jagan Mohan Reddy has closed many doors for her. The reasons behind the rift is a well-guarded secret within the family. TNM spoke to several people to trace what went wrong and why Sharmila made a risky political plunge. With no support from her father’s former associates, lack of organisational skills, and the Congress’ refusal to merger terms, Sharmila is left in the lurch but has decided to fight the Telangana Assembly polls without any alliance..Politics in the two Telugu states – Andhra Pradesh and Telangana – has always been dominated by caste and masculinity. Sharmila’s entry into politics managed to break this monotony. Her capacity for high drama left people glued to their screens many times over the last two years. Like when she sat resolutely in her car while it was being towed away by the Telangana police or when she symbolically gifted a pair of running shoes to CM K Chandrashekar Rao.For a person who comes from one of the strongest political families in Andhra Pradesh, success in electoral politics has been a mirage for many years now. This despite the fact that she grew up in the constant presence of powerful politicians. “YSR’s house also served as his office so there was a constant presence of party leaders and workers. This was the case in both their Hyderabad and Pulivendula houses,” a relative told TNM. “Sharmila grew up listening to conversations about political strategy and electioneering from a very young age. She was always very good at grasping things and she absorbed everything,” the relative added..In the family, Sharmila shared a close bond with her father. But YSR never envisioned a political career for Sharmila and did not endorse women in the family entering politics. “Sharmila’s mother Vijayamma did not have her own career. YSR often told the women in the house, ‘girls should not have to work too hard’. He applied the same logic to Sharmila,” a relative recalled.Undeterred by this, Sharmila showed an interest in politics and used to accompany her father during election campaigns. “She used to campaign in Kadapa for her father and drew crowds to her rallies. She did seem interested although she was not seen as her father’s political heir,” a former colleague of YSR said..Many journalists TNM spoke to also recalled how Sharmila would visit her father when he was on his famous padayatra in 2003. YSR travelled through the state and catapulted the Congress to power in the 2004 Assembly elections, dislodging Chandrababu Naidu as the CM.“She would bring along her son, Raja. While she would not be involved in the political side, she was attentive and sharp, immersing herself in all the political activities around,” a journalist recalled.All through her childhood, Sharmila’s relatives say that she was very close to her older brother, Jagan [current Andhra Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy], and trusted him implicitly. “They got along very well from a young age, there was never any animosity between them,” the relative added..YSR’s death and Sharmila’s political plungeHer father’s sudden death in September 2009 changed Sharmila immensely, her friends said. “When the news first came in that the helicopter he was travelling in had crashed and he had gone incommunicado, Sharmila kept denying that anything could have happened to him. When her brother confirmed that YSR had been killed in the crash, it hit her very hard,” a relative told TNM.The changing political circumstances after YSR’s death forced Sharmila to take centre stage and lead the campaign for her brother’s new party, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP).In 2010, Jagan and Vijayamma had a fallout with the Gandhi family with whom YSR had close ties. Jagan and his mother quit the Congress and started the YSRCP. In May 2012, Jagan was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on charges of embezzlement. The CBI alleged that Jagan had misused his father’s position as the CM of Andhra Pradesh to get several private companies to invest in his businesses and amassed wealth to the tune of Rs 43,000 crore.During Jagan’s 16-month incarceration, his wife, mother, and sister rallied around him. While his wife, YS Bharathi, took care of the family business and legal strategy, his mother and sister ensured that the new party did not fizzle out. “When Jagan was in jail, Vijayamma was leading rallies and giving press statements,” a close aide of YSR who had worked with him for over two decades told TNM. “Sharmila got involved only to help her mother but we later told her that she too should speak,” he recalled.Sharmila travelled almost 3,000 km in a padayatra she started in October 2012 from Idupulapaya in Kadapa to Ichchapuram with the aim of building the YSRCP. Along with other members of her family, she too had staunchly opposed the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to create Telangana..Become a subscriber.Sharmila continued to campaign for the newly formed YSRCP in Andhra Pradesh for the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in 2014. In its debut Assembly elections, YSRCP won 70 of the 175 seats in the divided Andhra. While Jagan went on to become the Leader of Opposition, Sharmila did not find a place in the party.She returned to running a power project in Karnataka and lived mostly in Bengaluru. Although she had shares in family-owned businesses, including Bharathi Cements and Sakshi TV, her involvement in running them was minimal. Jagan’s wife Bharathi has been running the businesses since his political career took off.Murmurs of a rift between Sharmila and her brother and his wife had gained momentum by this time and her move back to Bengaluru fuelled them further..2019 elections and estrangement with JaganSharmila made a political comeback ahead of the 2019 Andhra elections when she embarked on another yatra, this time on a bus. She travelled 1,553 km across the state with the campaign tagline ‘bye bye Babu’, referring to the then CM Chandrababu Naidu. She also addressed almost 40 public rallies which drew massive crowds. Those who worked on her campaign from I-PAC, the political strategy firm Jagan had hired, said that Sharmila was sharp in judging what will strike a chord with people and improvised on the talking points that the research team handed her. “She was articulate and knew how to politically attack Naidu and capitalise on public sentiment,” said a former I-PAC employee..Another strategist who worked on the bus yatra said that while Sharmila had the charisma to draw huge crowds, she lacked experience in real politicking. All the logistics, including securing venues, getting party leaders to fund and participate in her events, were all taken care of for her. This made it easier for her to concentrate on her personal campaign. He pointed out that it was not Jagan but political strategist Prashant Kishor who proposed Sharmila’s involvement.After the 11-day bus tour, Sharmila was not part of the YSRCP campaign anymore. The conflict between the siblings had become apparent to observers and party workers, insiders said..Click to become a subscriber.Rift with JaganThe disagreements between Jagan and Sharmila reached a point where they would not appear together in public anymore. When the family was in their ancestral home in Pulivendula to vote in the 2019 elections, the two of them went separately to cast their votes. “There were prayer meetings held at home by Bharathi and Sharmila was not part of any of these. She did not join the family in Vijayawada for counting and went only later,” a relative said. The relative added that it had become apparent to Sharmila that while her brother would go on to become the Chief Minister, she would have no position or rank in the party or the newly formed government. “She had hopes of being at least nominated to the Rajya Sabha which would have been an easy task for Jagan given the majority with which he won the elections. But that was not to be. This greatly disappointed Sharmila,” the relative added..Sharmila’s insistence on being active in politics worsened the already strained relationship with Jagan. Family members close to Jagan said that he had made it clear many years ago that each of their families will have only one sibling contesting elections. “When he asked years ago, she asked him to be in politics. She changed her mind later, how can he be blamed for that?” questioned another relative.The following year, the discord grew, this time over Sharmila’s shares in Sakshi TV and Bharathi Cements. A source close to her alleged that when the family visited Israel for a pilgrimage in 2020, Sharmila was informed that her shares would be diluted. This led to more bickering. Communication between the siblings broke down and the estrangement worsened. Sharmila blames Bharathi, who handles both business entities, for not giving her shares, but sources close to Jagan said that since the assets worth around Rs 749 crore were attached by a special anti-money laundering court after an order by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2016 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), it was difficult to formally divide the assets.Sharmila’s friend alleged that even when she would campaign for the YSRCP, her advertisements would not be prominently featured on Sakshi TV. This was another reason for the rift.By 2021, Sharmila decided to start her own party even if she had to do it in Telangana. A close associate said that she did not want a direct confrontation with her brother in Andhra Pradesh, so she was forced to move to the neighbouring state.But the disagreements between the siblings have become more intense since.Shamila’s stand in the murder investigation of Vivekananda Reddy was a bone of contention between the two. In 2019, Vivekananda Reddy, who was YSR’s younger brother, was murdered at his residence. The CBI has accused Kadapa MP Avinash Reddy and his father Bhaskar Reddy of the murder. Bhaskar Reddy is YSR’s cousin and Avinash is second cousin to Jagan and Sharmila.In July 2023, it was revealed that Sharmila was a ‘secret witness’ in the CBI investigation into the murder. Jagan has maintained that the reasons for Vivekananda’s murder were personal and have nothing to do with party politics. But Sharmila’s statement suspecting political conspiracy behind the murder worsened her relationship with Jagan..Subscribe to TNM today.New party, new beginningsGiven Sharmila and her family’s posturing against the formation of Telangana, starting a political party there was going to be arduous. Sharmila chose to capitalise on the fact that her husband, Anil Kumar, hails from Telangana. She started the YSRTP on July 8, 2021.There were many factors in her favour but there was one major hurdle: her earlier stand on the bifurcation of Andhra.Her father’s name still had political capital in pockets of Telangana and the Reddy community, which has over 5-6% voters in the state, does not have a tall leader. Many of YSR’s contemporaries and protégés were scattered across party lines and Sharmila had hoped to bring at least a few of them into her party.Ahead of YSR’s death anniversary on September 2, 2021, Sharmila and Vijayamma invited over 300 of his former associates for a prayer in Hyderabad. IAS, IPS officers who had served under YSR along with his political contemporaries, many of his mentees who were now in other parties, his staff members, and even actors from the Telugu film industry who were close to him were invited. But the response was far from encouraging. Most of the people who were invited politely refused to attend and as a desperate measure, Sharmila got Vijayamma to make personal calls to the invitees.“Sharmila had attacked all parties in Telangana when she launched YSRTP and this made the politicians who were in other parties now and serving officers wary of attending this event,” a close associate of Sharmila told TNM. “The call from Vijayamma, who reminded them of the patronage they enjoyed under YSR, made a few reluctantly agree but only after she assured them that this will not be a promotion event for Sharmila’s new party but a remembrance of YSR. But most of them, including AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, did not want to be seen sharing a stage with Sharmila,” the source added.One Congress leader who was present said he was told that it was not a political event. “When I got a call, I was a little worried. There has been a lot of bad blood between the YSR family and the Congress for the last 12 years, so I was hesitant. But Vijayamma told me it was just in YSR’s memory,” he said.Another former close associate of YSR who attended the event confirmed this. “The event was at a five star hotel in Hyderabad and was supposed to be an apolitical function,” he said.But through the course of the event, the elephant in the room – the topic of the newly formed YSRTP – came up. “Both Sharmila and Vijayamma appealed to all of us to support the party. Many old timers like KVP Ramachandra Rao, Raghu Veera Reddy, Gidugu Rudra Raju, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy were present. Majority of the leaders were from Andhra, particularly the Rayalaseema region,” the former YSR associate said.He added that despite Sharmila’s assurance that she plans to take forward YSR’s schemes and through them his legacy, most of the leaders remained apprehensive. Many even directly refused to entertain the idea.“If she was to start a party in Andhra, old Congress leaders would join her,” a senior Congress leader said.Over the next few days, Sharmila continued meeting leaders in smaller groups in the family’s Lotus Pond residence in Hyderabad’s high profile Jubilee Hills area. One thing became clear by then – her political foray into Telangana was to happen without the support of not just her older brother but also without the support of her father’s colleagues.“Her husband had called me before they started YSRTP and sought my suggestion. I categorically said do not start a party, you will not manage to get any traction. I had suggested they wait for at least two to three years and see how things pan out. But she was too keen to prove herself to be a leader,” a former staffer from YSR’s office said.A few younger members of the YSRCP and I-PAC joined her initially. Most of them said that they were not aware of the animosity between Sharmila and Jagan and had thought of working with the YSRTP as an extension of their previous work. “We thought Jagan would eventually support her, but as days passed it became clear that she was on her own,” a strategist from her team said. “It became a conflict of interest for us then. While a few of us stayed back with Sharmila, several others left,” he added..YSRTP fails to stand out amid political faux pasA young team of planners and officer bearers tried to construct an image of Sharmila as a new-age leader who can be a challenge to KCR and take forward the legacy of YSR. And for the first few months, the enthusiasm carried the team through. “There was a vacuum of a strong female leader in Telangana and we thought Sharmila could fill it,” a member of her team said.She undertook another march, dubbing it the Praja Prasthanam Padayatra, and walked almost 18-20 km everyday. “No other woman leader in the country has undertaken so many padayatras for such long distances. Sharmila put in the hard work and tried to repeat the success of connecting with people through these padayatras like her father had in 2003 and her brother in 2017-18,” her team member added..But YSRTP failed to gain distinction as a force that can take on KCR. “She has not managed to get the desired traction. When she entered politics, she had campaigned for a united Andhra and taken a stand against the formation of Telangana. Now she says I am a daughter-in-law of Telangana, but this has not worked so far,” a former employee who has distanced themselves said.The initial fervour of the young team soon started floundering and inexperience started showing, said a strategist who had worked with Sharmila during her bus yatra as part of the YSRCP. “The second rung leadership in the party was weak and had no vision, and Sharmila recognised these issues too late. She does not have any political guidance and that showed in a number of incidents that made her look flippant,” a YSRTP insider said.In June 2022, after weeks of persuasion, former Kodangal MLA Gurunath Reddy, who was with the BRS at the time, agreed to participate in a YSRTP public function. Insiders said that he had expressed interest in joining YSRTP but was yet to make up his mind and agreed to participate in the function as a mark of respect to YSR. But his photo was used in promotional material and posters were put up without his permission. Furious with this, he reportedly swore off the party. He joined the Congress in August 2023.One of the prominent names to initially resign from the YSRTP was Pratap Reddy. The party in-charge for Mahbubnagar, he quit in July 2021. In less than a month, another senior leader, Indira Shobhan, too resigned. She was a Congress leader who had joined the YSRTP. She later went on to become the Aam Aadmi Party’s Telangana search committee chairperson. Insiders said that ego tussles over handling of party affairs had frustrated Indira. More resignations followed. In addition to several state-level office bearers resigning, two state executive committee members, Srikanth and Madhu Vamsi, also stepped down.Such political faux pas over months ensured that at least 10-12 general secretaries of the new party stepped down. A dozen district presidents have left the party since its inception in 2021.“The everyday running of a political party proved to be a huge challenge for Sharmila,” a party worker told TNM. He said that while her political acumen is sharp, her organisational skills are lacking. And this led to several miscalculations as well as mismanagement, he added.Another party leader said that many within the party misled Sharmila on many key issues, which resulted in her being perceived as a political greenhorn. She has changed three political strategists in less than two years.Meanwhile, there has been large-scale financial mismanagement right under her nose, alleged insiders. Sharmila started the ‘Rythu Avedana Yatra’ in December 2021 in a bid to meet farmers and understand the reasons behind farmer suicides. After meeting the kin of many farmers who had killed themselves, she had assured them compensation ranging from Rs 25,000 - 50,000. After many months, it was brought to Sharmila’s attention that many families did not receive the amount or had received only a part of it..Another occasion when Sharmila realised her team’s inadequacy or unreliability – or maybe both – was when she started looking for the most conducive Assembly constituency to contest from. She decided to contest from the Palair constituency. An internal survey conducted by the YSRTP reportedly indicated that the constituency has a huge number of voters from the Reddy and Christian community, and borders Andhra Pradesh, all factors that favour Sharmila.To establish her presence in the area, a YSRTP office was to be built on a one-acre plot in Palair. In December 2022, the bhoomi pooja was conducted by Sharmila and her mother. For many weeks after, she had not visited the site. “One day when she was passing by, she decided to take a small detour and see the progress of the office building. She had been told that the construction of the first floor was complete. But to her utter shock, only the foundation of the building had been laid,” a YSRTP leader told TNM. “This was the last straw, she felt completely betrayed and cornered. The thought of not being able to run the party started then,” he added.Despite the presence of a few women leaders, Andhra Pradesh politics is a patriarchal world, much like in most Indian states. It is the first time a woman started a political party on her own in the Telugu states. Many who have observed Sharmila said that much like her brother, she has just tried to emulate her father’s brand of politics: a combination of populist welfarism, caste politics, and connecting with voters through padayatras. An analyst said that YSR’s legacy might still have around 13-14% vote bank in Telangana even today, 14 years after his death. Those who benefited from the schemes his government had started might still be swayed, but Sharmila has so far failed to capitalise on his legacy.In united Andhra Pradesh, the Reddy community was the biggest beneficiary of YSR’s Chief Ministership and wielded political influence disproportionate to its population. Since 1956, the state has had over nine CMs from the community. But after the bifurcation, the community has had to play second fiddle in Telangana. The Velama community, to which KCR belongs, has taken over as the most politically dominant. But financially, the Reddy businessmen still enjoy clout, said Prof Venkatesu, University of Hyderabad..Become a subscriber.“The KCR government has continued to give patronage to the Reddy community in contracts for infrastructure projects, real estate, transportation, and many other sectors. When it comes to cabinet berths, they are second,” said Prof Venkatesu.The Reddy community in Telangana will be confident about a leader only after they get power. Which is why they have not rallied behind Sharmila, he added..What compelled Sharmila to propose a merger with Congress?The suggestion to merge the YSRTP with the Congress came from KVP Ramachandra Rao, according to YSRTP leaders. KVP, as he is called in political circles, is a senior Congress leader who was a close friend of YSR. He served as the advisor to the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh under YSR from 2004 to 2010.Having burnt bridges with the Congress leadership in 2013-14, Sharmila reached out to an old friend from the neighbouring state of Karnataka, DK Shivakumar. And even after swallowing pride and making the first move, talks with the Congress were not easy..At the beginning, Sharmila had demanded that she be given a ticket to contest from Palair and around eight of her followers be given tickets too. In addition, she had said that she was open to being a star campaigner for the party in states like Karnataka.The merger proposal faced a lot of resistance from Congress leaders in the state. The Telangana unit, especially state president Revanth Reddy, opposed Sharmila’s presence in the party vehemently. Many leaders from her own community scuttled her entry.The primary reason for the resistance could have been that she was from Rayalaseema, but there were many Reddy leaders who felt uncomfortable with her joining. There was a risk of creating another power centre in the state unit with Sharmila leading it.Beyond her own political personality and her father’s legacy, Sharmila did not have anything to offer the Congress. She had not managed to get the support of many of the most ardent followers of her father.She had stipulated that she would not campaign for the party in Andhra Pradesh, a move that the Congress was not happy with. Over the next few weeks, when it became apparent that the Congress will not allow her to play hardball, she conceded and said that the merger will be unconditional from her side, even agreeing to campaign in Andhra.The final offer given to her was to announce unconditional support to Congress in the Telangana Assembly elections and not field any candidates from the YSRTP. After elections, the merger would be revisited and the question of how she could be accommodated looked into. But she did not want to sit out the elections.Over the last four months, while talks were on with Congress, she lost a large chunk of the party cadre. She did not visit the constituencies as frequently, and as a result many YSRTP workers, district presidents included, left the party. A few went to the Congress, assuming that the merger would happen and hoping to get a place in the party. Many others who had left the Congress to join the YSRTP went to the BRS. So when she was waiting for the merger to happen, her party weakened and she did not take notice nor take corrective measures.Meanwhile, using her merger talks with Congress as leverage, she was holding parallel meetings with both the BJP and BRS. The BRS was interested in funding a few of her candidates in constituencies where there could be a close contest between Congress and BRS candidates. If YSRTP candidates could cut into a small margin of Congress votes, it would help the BRS candidate win. Meanwhile, the BJP had agreed to fund a few YSRTP candidates with the demand that after the elections she merge the YSRTP with the BJP. This is an offer that she has not refused yet but isn’t keen on.Now that the merger with the Congress is ruled out, she is finding it difficult to field 119 candidates. Many in the party fear that if she also does not manage to win the Palair seat, her political career will be all but over.The latest high-profile exit was Epuri Somanna, a well-known folk singer who was closely associated with the Telangana movement. His presence by Sharmila’s side added a touch of credibility to the YSRTP, which was otherwise written off as an ‘Andhra party’. His was the first name Sharmila had announced as a candidate from the Thungathurthy Assembly constituency. But as she waited for the Congress to make a final decision on the merger, he joined the BRS in the first week of October.As Sharmila manoeuvres the long list of hurdles – patriarchy, parochialism, betrayal, and her own political shortcomings– she stands at the crossroads.Also Read: Annamalai and the art of political gymnastics.Become a subscriber